Two weeks after her 1979 graduation from Penn State, Jamie took her speech communication degree and immediately hit the road for Los Angeles, or “Camp LA,” as her father called it. He anticipated a quick trip, but Jamie’s ambitious journey has lasted thirty-plus years throughout the film and TV industries. As a result of her hard work and liberal arts skills, she is widely viewed as a pioneer in the business of managing the variety of personalities starring in reality television shows—a phenomenon now booming across network and cable TV.
For over a decade in LA, Jamie worked her way up through the entertainment industry. She started her career at Creative Artists Agency, supporting talent agents who represented leading actors, screenwriters, directors, and producers. At Lorimar Productions, whose successes included the long-running television series Dallas and Knot’s Landing, she worked in the story department reading and evaluating film and TV scripts. Jamie subsequently worked as a development and production executive for studio and independent feature films including Overboard starring Goldie Hawn and Beaches, starring Bette Midler.
Her Los Angeles experiences served her well when Jamie moved back to the East Coast to work at Discovery Communications, where she rose through the ranks to become Senior Vice President for Talent Relations. For more than nineteen years, she founded and directed the talent department overseeing the casting, deal negotiations and day-to-day management of on-air talent for Discovery’s twelve U.S. networks, numerous international networks, and other business divisions across Discovery Communications.
Jamie's Discovery Network clients included:
Deadliest Catch captains; Mike Rowe / Dirty Jobs; Bear Grylls /Man vs. Wild; Anthony Bourdain / No Reservations; Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman / Mythbusters; Jon and Kate Gosselin / Jon & Kate Plus 8; Stacey London and Clinton Kelly / What Not to Wear; Paul, Paul Jr., & Mike Teutel /American Chopper
Jamie and her husband, Joshua, have two daughters, and they recently moved back to California.